Chapter Ten
Amelie was trying very hard to focus on something other than Grant’s close presence, but she was failing miserably.
The warmth of his hand resting against the small of her back sent little flutters through her stomach every time his thumb moved, and she was beginning to suspect that being around Grant Carter was hazardous to her ability to think clearly.
It had been twenty-four hours since he had reappeared in her life, and already she felt dangerously close to turning into a puddle of goo whenever he touched her.
Determined to maintain at least a shred of dignity, she followed the hostess as she led them through the restaurant.
They passed the busy dining room before heading toward a set of glass doors at the back.
Amelie assumed they were being seated inside one of the enclosed terrace areas, but when the hostess stepped aside and gestured toward a table waiting for them outside, she stopped short.
The space was beautiful. The terrace was covered and lined with heaters that chased away the winter chill. Soft lights twinkled overhead, and evergreen garlands decorated the railings, creating an intimate atmosphere that felt miles away from the bustling restaurant behind them.
But it wasn’t the decorations that stole her breath.
It was the view.
Her favorite, The Matterhorn, rose in the distance, illuminated against the darkening evening sky like something out of a painting. Its snow-covered peaks glowed beneath the moonlight, and for a moment all Amelie could do was stare.
“Grant,” she said softly, turning toward him. “This is where we’re eating?”
His grin widened. “Yep.”
She looked back at the mountain, then at the table, then at him. “You planned all this?”
“Of course I did.” He pulled out her chair for her. “I figured pizza, a good craft beer, and one of the most beautiful views in Switzerland was a pretty solid combination.”
Amelie laughed as she sat down. She glanced around the space again.
“I wonder why there aren’t more people out here. This is gorgeous.”
A smile tugged at Grant’s mouth. “According to the manager, during the holidays this terrace is booked months in advance.”
She scrunched her eyebrows together. “Then why are we the only two people out here?”
Grant’s smile grew. “Because I rented it out for the night. Just for us.”
Her mouth fell open. “You what?”
“I rented the entire terrace out for the evening.”
“Grant.”
“What?” he asked, though from his amused expression he knew exactly what she was asking.
“Why?”
His expression softened immediately. “So, we could talk.”
The simple answer stole every argument right out of her. For a second, neither of them looked away. Grant lifted his hand and gently cupped her cheek, his touch warm and familiar. His thumb brushed lightly against her skin, and the tenderness in the gesture made her chest tighten.
“I wanted one night where it was just us.”
He stepped back and then took the seat across from her.
“I like that too. Thank you,” she said.
His green eyes softened. “You’re welcome.”
The waiter arrived with menus, and Amelie found herself studying Grant while he talked to the server, not intentionally, or at least she didn’t think it was intentional, but she couldn’t seem to stop.
The last time she had sat across from him like this, he had been twenty-five years old and full of plans, dreams, and confidence that life would unfold exactly the way he expected.
Grant caught her staring and quirked one of his eyebrows.
One eyebrow lifted.
Amelie immediately looked down at her menu. Then she realized that only made her look guiltier.
When she looked back up, Grant was smirking.
“See something you like?” he asked.
Heat crept into her cheeks. “You have something on your face.”
His grin widened. “Do I?”
She laughed. “No. I just made that up.”
Grant barked out a laugh as he leaned back in his chair, looking entirely too handsome.
Amelie took a sip of her water, looking at him again over the rim of her glass.
“Okay. I was staring. I was making sure that you were real,” she said, her voice turning more serious.
Her comment seemed to have caught him off guard as his expression softened.
“Yeah?”
She nodded. “Because the alternative is that I’ve completely lost my mind.”
The smile that spread across his face was so devastatingly handsome that Amelie immediately regretted looking at him again.
“Well, I’m glad that I’m not the only one having that problem.”
Thankfully, their server returned with a flight of local craft beers for them to sample, and soon after, their pizzas arrived, and the conversation finally settled into something comfortable.
They talked a lot about the boys, and Amelie found herself laughing so hard at one point that tears gathered in her eyes as she described the homemade zipline disaster from three years ago.
Grant looked horrified. “They built a zipline?”
Amelie nodded as she took a bite of her pizza. “It seemed like a good idea to them.”
Grant rubbed a hand across his face. “I think I need another drink.”
Amelie laughed harder. “You sound exactly like me.”
He smiled. “All joking aside, they are great kids. I know I’ve only spent hours with them, but you did a great job raising them to be respectable young men.”
The words hit her harder than she expected. She smiled softly and glanced down at her beer before looking back at him.
Raising the boys had been the hardest and most rewarding thing she had ever done, and hearing those words from Grant made her chest ache in the best possible way.
“Thank you. There were many days when I was making it up as I went along, but they’ve always made it worth it. But I can’t take all the credit. They came into this world with stubborn Carter DNA. I was fighting a losing battle from the start.”
Grant laughed.
The humor slowly gave way to deeper conversations as the evening continued.
Grant told her stories from his years in the Navy. Of course, nothing classified. Just stories about friendships, ridiculous training exercises, and moments that had shaped him.
Amelie tilted her head slightly. “What made you leave the Navy? You loved being a SEAL and always had talked about doing your full twenty years.”
Amelie noticed the change immediately, the slight tightening around his eyes, and he looked down at his beer. He was quiet for a moment.
“You don’t have to answer that if you don’t want to,” she said, hoping that she didn’t bring up a bad topic.
Grant took a sip of his beer before setting it down.
“I didn’t exactly choose to leave. During my last deployment, my team and I were moving through some rough terrain. I was climbing, and the structure I was on gave way, and I fell.”
Amelie’s heart dropped.
Grant’s expression remained calm, but she could see that it was tough for him to talk about it.
“Grant…”
He offered her a small smile. “I’ve had worse landings. But long story short, the way I landed, the impact messed up my back pretty badly.”
Amelie stared at him. He said it so casually, as though he were discussing a sprained ankle.
“When you say badly. What kind of bad are we talking about?”
Grant exhaled slowly. “The surgeons told me I was lucky because most people with the injury I had were paralyzed.”
The words hit her like a physical blow.
The image appeared instantly in her mind despite her efforts to stop it.
She pictured Grant lying in a hospital bed, unable to walk and facing a future completely different from the one he had planned, and the thought made her chest ache.
She hadn’t been there, and she hadn’t even known.
For twelve years, she had lived her life unaware of how close he had come to losing everything.
Her eyes stung with the onset of tears, and she blinked rapidly, but it was too late. A tear slipped free.
Grant immediately noticed.
“Hey.”
Another followed, and she looked away, feeling embarrassed.
Grant reached across the table and gently brushed his thumb beneath her eye, wiping away a tear. When another followed, he carefully wiped that one away too.
His expression softened. “This date wasn’t supposed to make you cry.”
A watery laugh escaped her. “I know. I just…” She swallowed hard. “I could have lost you forever. I want to know everything about you that I’ve missed.”
A look of affection and understanding appeared in Grant’s eyes. Then he smiled.
“Well, that’s going to take more than one date,” he teased.
The unexpected answer caught her off guard, and a laugh escaped before she could stop it.
Grant grinned. “There are twelve years of stories, Amelie.”
She shook her head. “Fair point.”
“The way I see it, at a minimum, we’re looking at several dinners.”
“Several, huh?”
“Yup. Dozens.”
She laughed again, and finally the tears stopped.
“There she is,” Grant said, looking pleased with himself.
And somehow, despite the heaviness of the conversation, despite the ache she felt imagining everything he had endured without her, the warmth returned between them.
Because now she knew there would be more dates, more conversations that stretched late into the evening, more stories shared between them, and most importantly, more time together.
“Honestly,” he said, swirling his beer, “it forced me to build something new. At the time, I thought my life was over.”
Amelie reached across the table and touched his hand.
“I’m proud of you.”
The sincerity in her voice seemed to have caught him off guard.
“I mean it,” she continued. “What you’ve built in such a short time is incredible.”
Grant squeezed her fingers. “Thank you.”
The conversation eventually shifted toward Lumi. She told him about the investor and how he’s been a little aggressive in pressuring her to sell him a stake in her company.
By the time she finished, she could practically see the gears turning in his head.
Amelie immediately regretted mentioning it—not because she was hiding anything, but because she watched Grant’s expression sharpen almost instantly. The former SEAL seemed to disappear, replaced by the protector she knew so well, and she recognized the change immediately.